Another crazy fantastic week in Italy – this time Bologna. Learned so much about the children’s book biz, including much ado about apps (more to come soon). Bologna won me over with its lovely porticoes and outstanding food. It’s a completely different world in Bologna from Florence, even though it’s only a 35 minute train ride. If you ever go, make sure you pack your black. It seems the only two colors people wear there are black and dark wash jeans. I felt like an Easter egg in my wardrobe. As a friend said, “Bologna – where black is the new black.”

Quotes on Gratitude

“Joy is not in things, it is in us.” — Joan Borysenko

“There is as much greatness of mind in acknowledging a good turn, as in doing it.” — Seneca

“Love is the true means by which the world is enjoyed: our love to others, and others’ love to us.” — Thomas Traherne

Gratitude list for the week ending March 24

First, I am grateful for my in-laws, my stepmother and my mom for helping my husband hold down the fort while I took this epic trip to Italy. Thank you!!

Learning enough about apps and ebooks at the ToC Bologna conference to make my head spin. Cheers to Kat Meyer and the entire O’Reilly team making it all happen.

Hall after hall after hall of nothing but children’s books – enough said!

Tagliatelle ragu and red wine with Danika and Susan – lovely dinner

The city of Bologna itself, with its seductive porticoes, antiquarian bookshops, black-clad residents spilling into the streets from Enoteche at night, savory food shops and best of all, Gelateria Gianni!

Receiving the best welcome home in history from my kids. The sign was fantastic, but the hugs and kisses even more precious. How I missed them!

Today I have the sincere pleasure of hosting Marcie Colleen as the Tuesday 12 x 12 author. Marcie keeps a wonderful blog – The Write Stuff. I especially love her Wednesday weigh-in series because they always get me thinking about writing from a different angle, especially after reading the comments from all the others. I also love how Marcie applies lessons from running to writing, as I too am both. So, please welcome Marcie!

In January 2011 I ran my first race – a 5 miler through Central Park in NYC – as part of my training to run a half marathon a few months later. I remember clearly standing in my corral waiting for the starting gun feeling like I didn’t quite fit in. Everyone else around me looked like the “real deal”, wearing cool gear. I looked like I was wearing a costume. “Hi, I’m Marcie. I am a dressed as a runner for Halloween wearing various mismatched pieces of workout clothes I found buried in my closet.” I was sure that someone would stop me and say, “Oh, I’m sorry, you do not belong here. Please exit the corral.” But no one said that, so I ran it and crossed the finish line with a big (albeit sweaty and exhausted) smile!

This scenario has proved a wonderful analogy for my writing career. It has also helped me boil down my adventure into two distinct concepts which I would like to share with you.

1) Find ways to treat yourself like a writer. (build confidence and craft)

2) Find situations where others will treat you like a writer. (build connections and community)

When I first started out, I packed my days with activities that fulfilled the first concept. Yet, I didn’t quite understand why, despite all of the time spent in front of my laptop researching, reading, and actually writing, something was missing. It was not merely enough that I was “wearing my writer costume”…I needed to get into the corral with all the others in order to fully “run the race”.

When I trained for the NYC Half Marathon it might have been my own two feet that got me across the finish line, but I didn’t do it alone. I had coaches, mentors, running partners, my amazing boyfriend, family and friends that were a part of each step I took. Through wisdom, encouragement, laughter and cheers they all fueled and fed me. Just like running that race, life is about community for me. And what my writing “career” was lacking was community.

The real moment came for me when I signed up to participate in PiBoIdMo in November of 2011 which then led to participation in 12 x12 in ’12. I originally decided to participate in both of these challenges in order to give myself goals to work toward, but what I found was greater than that! I suddenly gained entry into a family of likeminded picture book writers who provided support, encouragement, and wisdom. This community shares its ups and downs, its struggles and triumphs. I found a writer to swap manuscripts with through email who doesn’t even live in the same country as me. I gained 24 hour access to writers to bounce ideas off of. My blog quickly gained Followers and became a true place of discussion! It was clear that this circle of writers from various reaches of the earth were a community in every sense of the word.

I value my friends and colleagues of both PiBoIdMo and 12 x 12 in ’12. I am proud to be counted among you. You treat me as a writer and therefore I am able to treat myself like a writer with more confidence. On the day that I am finally published, it will be my name on that book, but I won’t forget that you have been my coaches, my mentors, my “running partners” who along with my amazing boyfriend, family and friends make every step on this crazy journey a triumph and a joy.

Marcie Colleen is a pre-published Picture Book writer living in Brooklyn, NY. You can read about her journey on her blog, The Write Routine (http://writeroutine.blogspot.com). Her new Friday Treats segment deals with the two concepts mentioned above and provides ways to bring them into your own writing life. She loves the challenge of balancing her fulltime job as a nanny with her writing career and various other activities she dabbles in. She will be running the NYC ING Marathon for the first time on November 4, 2012.

I can’t remember where I first read about this book, but I do know that I bought it sight unseen based upon an interview with the author (social media works!). Being a complete sucker for miraculous dog stories with happy endings, I couldn’t resist. Plus, this is the author’s debut picture book, and I always like to support new authors.

Opening and brief synopsis: From the jacket copy: On a cold winter day, a curious dog wanders onto a frozen river. Suddenly, the ice starts breaking up, and soon the dog is adrift and traveling–the unwilling passenger on a fast-moving sheet of ice.

Activities: This is a brand new book, so there isn’t much out there yet. The author, however, has an adorable downloadable Baltic paper doll on her website. I’m sure it would be fun for kids to act out his journey on the ice.

Why I Like This Book: It’s an incredible story of survival, rescue, bravery and friendship. Oh, and the main character is an adorable dog. What’s not to love?

For its sheer adorableness, here is a video of the real Baltic, who did end up being adopted by the crew who saved him.

‎“Cheerfulness and contentment are great beautifiers and are famous preservers of youthful looks.” -Charles Dickens

“The source of love is deep in us and we can help others realize a lot of happiness. One word, one action, one thought can reduce another person’s suffering and bring that person joy.” ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

“Be like the sun for grace and mercy. Be like the night to cover others’ faults. Be like running water for generosity. Be like death for rage and anger. Be like the Earth for modesty. Appear as you are. Be as you appear.” — Rumi

Gratitude List for the week ending February 11

My application to the Highlights Foundation Poetry for All Workshop was accepted! So I’ll be heading to Honesdale in May.

In the light of less than a half moon, the stars in Breckenridge are brilliant.

“Happiness is the settling of the soul into its most appropriate spot.” — Aristotle

“Deficiency motivation doesn’t work. It will lead to a life-long pursuit of try to fix me. Learn to appreciate what you have and where and who you are.” — Wayne Dyer

“Many times a day I realize how much my own life is built on the labours of my fellowmen, and how earnestly I must exert myself in order to give in return as much as I have received.” — Albert Einstein

Gratitude list for the week ending February 4

Getting to ski and hang out with great friends, including my bestest girlfriend!

Witnessing more than one beautiful sunrise reflecting on the mountains

With everyone’s help, I developed the strength of TEN Grinches! Plus two.

Last Sunday, I launched a contest to help promote my entry in the MeeGenius Children’s Author Challenge. Everyone who entered promoted their hearts out all week. What’s more, MANY people who did not enter the contest did the same. What meant the most to me, even more than the votes and promotion assistance, were the comments of support and encouragement I got from people about both the story and my promotion efforts. At the end of the day, I wanted people to help because they loved the story as much as I did, and I was so heartened by all the feedback I got from you. I can honestly say that whether I make the final round or not, this has been a tremendous experience.

As I said in my Gratitude Sunday post yesterday, at one point during the week I felt I would explode with gratitude. In that moment, I decided there would be no “winners” of my contest because everyone would be a winner. That’s right! Prizes for ALL who participated. After so many people did so much for me, I would have felt stingy and Grinch-like drawing only a few winners from those who entered.

I can still only provide one iPod Shuffle, 2 IndieBound gift cards and 3 picture books, BUT the other prizes will be unlimited, so the pool of entrants vying for the others will be much smaller – hence, a greater chance of winning.

So here’s how this will work. First, you must have left a comment on my contest post, as that was how I was tracking official entrants (Erik at This Kid Reviews Books, you are the exception because you left a comment about the contest on one of my blog tour posts, so I put you down). Provided you were officially entered, you simply need to leave a comment letting me know which prize you want. If you want one of the tangible items, please list your first, second and third choices. Here is what is available:

Critique of a full PB manuscript or first 10 pages of any other genre = Unlimited (You want it, it’s yours)

iPod shuffle = 1 available (If more than one person elects this as a first choice, I will draw a winner from among them)

$25 IndieBound gift certificates = 2 available (Same as above)

One picture book of your choice = 3 available (Same as above)

In your comment, please state the prize you want and your email address so I can contact you offline about details. Please note: the agent list will be delivered by December 31st. I just want to go through it one more time to clean it up and make sure it’s updated. It is all publicly available information, but things change quickly in the industry, so I’ll double-check the data. Writing critiques will be turned around by January 15th. All other prizes will be ordered and shipped this week.

THANK YOU again to everyone, those entered in the contest and those not. I truly appreciate you all!